On Monday October 12th 1970 the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article entitled 'Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac.' Just two weeks later the Zodiac Killer would respond, when he mailed the Halloween Card to Paul Avery, a prominent San Francisco Chronicle reporter. This card containing two skeletons, opened with the phrase 'I feel it in my bones, you ache to know my name. And so I'll clue you in..' This on the face of it seems a direct response to the Chronicle article, but what clue was the Zodiac prepared to give us in this card regarding his identity or name. However before we tackle this problem, we shall fast forward to the Exorcist Letter, mailed to the Chronicle on January 29th 1974 and investigate any possible clues within this correspondence. This first part has been covered previously, however this will be expanded upon as we delve a little deeper.The Exorcist Letter appeared a curious blend of two productions; The Mikado (1885), a satirical portrait of Victorian England, and the horror classic The Exorcist (1973), ironically labeled "the best saterical comidy that I have ever seen,' by the Zodiac Killer. The Exorcist Letter appears a mismatch of genres, an unholy alliance of mixed messages, unless of course it was designed this way to provide us with a hidden clue to his identity or name.

On the left is an excerpt from the Exorcist Letter. After a line such as 'Signed, yours truley,' one would expect the sender to provide us with a name, yet here the Zodiac Killer gives us a line from the Mikado's On a tree by a river, part of Act Two. Is his name concealed within these lines. In the article 'The Best Saterical Comidy,' this idea was explored. The name William can be abbreviated to Will, Bill, Billy, Willy, or Willie. It can be seen that these lines contain the names 'Bill and Will' several times. This of course is meaningless on its own, until you wrangle with the unusual alliance of The Exorcist and The Mikado. The Exorcist is an American horror film released in 1973, directed by William Friedkin and adapted for screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 book. The Mikado was created by Gilbert and Sullivan, however one half of the duo was Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, to effectively give us the three William's in the excerpt above, and tempt us with the phrase 'Signed, yours truley, William.' The inspiration for William Peter Blatty's novel The Exorcist(1971) was the real life exorcism of Roland Doe, a 13 year old Maryland boy, in 1949. Father William S. Bowdern, S.J.was central to this exorcism, assisted by Walter Halloran and William Van Roo, a third Jesuit priest, bringing our total to five.​In the San Francisco Chronicle article 'Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac,' Paul Avery wrote 'Sheriff's detective sergeant Kenneth Narlow of Napa County has fruitlessly followed up another 900 tips to Zodiac's identity since September 27th 1969." Did the Zodiac take this line and incorporate it into the Halloween Card, using the pumpkin fruit to effectively reveal his identity, deliberately placing the pumpkin over the groin and then removing it, to expose his identity. The groin becomes fruitless, yet reveals a name. I'm afraid you've guessed it, Willy. This is highly improbable, although the Zodiac Killer did present a rather immature element in much of his correspondence, so in an attempt to reinforce this identity, we shall proceed. The Halloween Card is obviously a reference to the Western Christian celebration of All Hallows Day on October 31st, hence the use of the spiders web, skeletons and pumpkin within the card. The most notable addition to the card was the pumpkin, so other than its deliberate positioning, has it any further significance to the Zodiac Killer's identity. The pumpkin itself is carved out on Halloween to create a spooky or ghostly face, and lit on the inside to create a menacing glowing effect. This is termed a 'Jack o' lantern' or 'Will o the wisp', an atmospheric ghost light seen by travelers at night.

Click image for full picture

The Zodiac Killer placed numerous eyes on the Halloween Card, accompanied by the words 'peek-a-boo you are doomed,' wrapped around the knothole in the tree. This, on the face of it, appeared a veiled threat towards San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery, but was it yet another clue to his identity. ​'Blind Bat', a member on the Zodiac Killer Site forum displayed an interesting connection to the Halloween Card, involving the 'peek-a-boo' phrase the author added to the greetings card. The picture on the right demonstrates this perfectly with the Zodiac-like letter K and the eyes and eyelashes eerily similar to the depiction on the Halloween Card itself. William V Peekaboo Pennington Senior was a San Francisco private detective, described as a cattle man, private investigator, theater owner, building contractor, oil man and member of the Eastern Star, a freemasonry related order established in 1850 by Rob Morris. He moved to San Francisco in 1924 and performed investigative duties for prominent lawyers and attorneys, including Melvin Belli, who became closely embroiled in the Zodiac Killer case. The Halloween Card provides us with two full, and two abbreviations of William, when we consider the following.

Guy Williams as Zorro

​The Halloween Card is the only time the Zodiac Killer used the letter Z on his correspondence, other than the Cheri Jo Bates letters of 1966, which has still not been definitively linked to the Northern California murderer. He places the letter Z on the envelope and the inside of the card, but in addition to this, the Zodiac Killer places a Zorro style mask on the skeleton. Is this a further clue. Had the Zodiac spent his formative years in the 1950's, Zorro would have been a high profile television series, made into two Walt Disney films, The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro, the Avenger (1959). The Disney television series ran from 1957 to 1959, and this, along with the two movies starred Guy Williams. Revisiting the subject of Melvin Belli, the Zodiac Killer wrote a personal correspondence to the prominent lawyer on December 20th 1969. In this correspondence he stated "I will loose all controol of myself and set the bomb up. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer." This phrase is remarkably similar to a message scrawled on the wall of a murder victim.Frances Brown was discovered on December 10th 1945 at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment, in Edgewater, Chicago. She had multiple knife wounds, in fact a knife was found present in the victims neck, along with a bullet wound to the head. The killer had left a calling card, in the form of a message written in lipstick on the wall. See here. It said:For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more. I cannot control myself. The Zodiac Killer wrote (edited)I will loose all controol of myself. Please help me. I can not remain in control for much longer.The killer William Heirens, known as the 'Lipstick Killer', was convicted of the murders of three females over a seven month period. Was the letter mailed to Melvin Belli a plea for help, or just another subtle clue to his identity.

Patricia Campbell Hearst

Paul Avery extensively covered the Patty Hearst affair, along with San Francisco Chronicle reporter Tim Findley, something the Zodiac was unlikely to miss. The killer mailed the 'SLA Letter' on February 14th 1974, only ten days after the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army on February 4th 1974. There are two links here, in that Patty Hearst was the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, who gained control of the San Francisco Examiner from his father. But more importantly, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) leaders were Donald De Freeze and William Harris. One of its founding members was Willie Wolfe. ​In the article 'Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac', Paul Avery wrote "Zodiac is still at large today. And he is now claiming he has murdered thirteen persons. Homicide detectives who've been hunting Zodiac for nearly two years frankly admit he is as much an enigma now as he was on December 20th 1968, when he chalked up his first two victims."In chalk-like writing the Zodiac would now be claiming a potential fourteen victims in the Halloween Card, but was it revealing a lot more than initially thought. The Little List letter mailed on July 26th 1970 heavily featured two portions of The Mikado. The seventh line of Mikado Act One Part 5aAs some day it may happen reads "All children who are up in dates, and floor you with 'em flat." The Zodiac Killer paraphrases this verse to "All children who are up in dates and implore you with im platt." It could simply be, that he was attempting to write the letter F, and accidentally formed the letter P, but if not.........

The Zodiac Killer appeared to enjoy taunting the police and newspapers, often replying to them directly. Two such examples were the 'Debut of Zodiac' Letter, where he replied the following day to the San Francisco Examiner's article on August 3rd 1969, giving more details regarding his first two attacks to Vallejo policeman Jack K Stiltz. Then the Zodiac mailed the Bus Bomb Letter on November 9th 1969, responding to the San Francisco article featuring comments by Chief of Police Martin Lee, entitled 'Zodiac Called a Clumsy Criminal'. So it makes perfect sense to examine the preceding article to Zodiac's Halloween Card mailed on October 27th 1970 to possibly unearth the trigger behind this correspondence. It is easy to search for correlations between any two pieces of work, so the following has to be treated with caution, but we will travel back to the San Francisco article authored by Paul Avery on October 12th 1970, just two weeks prior to the mailing of the Halloween Card. It was entitled 'Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac,' so it would come as no surprise that the Halloween Card opened with the line 'I feel it in my bones, You ache to know my name, And so i'll clue you in.' It would appear that the Zodiac Killer deliberately chose this particular card in regards to the use of the word 'clue,' to be considered as his response. But once again he disappointed revealing very little. However what could be garnered from this card was his use of the pumpkin to strategically mask the pelvic gender of the skeleton, unashamedly revealed on the card inner to the accompaniment of the word 'Boo', while in reverse, masking the face of the skeleton, suggestive of a hidden identity. The question is, what identity are we looking for, a sexual identity or the killer himself.

The San Francisco Chronicle article also stated 'Homicide detectives who've been hunting Zodiac for nearly two years frankly admit he is as much an enigma now as he was on December 20th 1968, when he chalked up his first two victims'. On the Halloween Card he chalked up 4-TEEN victims on the card inner, in very bold stylized white writing, although whether this is as a response to the article is questionable, rather than necessity based on the color of the card background.Very little, if anything, about the Zodiac crimes can be regarded as sexual, as no apparent interference took place in any of the four crimes, but could this in its absence tell us anything about the killer himself. It has been suggested that his savage attacks on young courting couples, is an attack on something unavailable to him, either from a standpoint of confidence and inadequacy, or in terms of his repressed or closet sexuality. After all the Zodiac did state that killing people was 'better than getting your rocks off with a girl'.In a previous article 'From Your Secret Pal' we examined the possibility the Zodiac Killer was a 'latent homosexual' as alluded to in the San Francisco Chronicle, authored by Paul Avery on October 18th 1969, so here we will slightly expand on that idea.Jose Sarria was a high profile advocate of the LGBT scene in San Francisco, becoming synonymous with the Black Cat bar at 710 Montgomery Street from 1945 to its closure in 1974, also founding The League for Civil Education to highlight acceptance towards homosexuality and even finding the time to run for office. Jose Sarria encouraged patrons to be proud of their homosexuality, often dressing up, and as a performer often sang in opera based shows and torch songs. However there was fierce opposition from society, with constant police intimidation and raids, with cross dressing patrons routinely arrested on the pretext of impersonating a woman. Jose Sarria encouraged the arrested to demand jury trials, in an attempt to clog up the court system, forcing a rethink by authorities, however names and addresses of those arrested were routinely published in the newspapers as a form of deterrent and shaming. This oppression was certainly cause enough to ignite a hatred towards the police and newspapers, two things the Zodiac seemed to revel in during his barrage of communication for nearly five years, but whether this was the incendiary is pure conjecture.

Melvin Mouron Belli photographed in 1967

For one night only, that of Halloween, homosexuality was 'overlooked' by the police force, a day that would become emblematic for LGBT celebrations. However the rest of the time it was business as usual, or for that matter lack of business, as gay premises, including the Black Cat bar were routinely raided by police. Jose Sarria annoyed by constant harassment sought the help of prominent attorney Melvin Belli, who had offices at 722 Montgomery Street, a stones throw from the Black Cat bar, and together formulated a plan to protect the cross dresser from the 'intent to deceive' law. A button or label was created stating 'I am a boy', effectively negating deception as an intention. In response to the perceived threat on Paul Avery in the Halloween Card, colleagues would adorn buttons on their clothing similar to the "I am a boy" declaration, but on this occasion would read "I am not Paul Avery." The Zodiac Killer aligned himself with Melvin Belli for a brief period, even mentioning or inferring the attorney's name in the 'Red Dragon' Card mailed on April 28th 1970, where the Zodiac declared "I would like to see some nice Zodiac buttons wandering about town. Everyone else has these buttons like, black power, melvin eats bluber, etc. Well it would cheer me up considerably if I saw a lot of people wearing my buton. Please no nasty ones like melvin's." The intention of Zodiac is rooted in the Irwin Weisfeld counterculture buttons of the 1960's, nevertheless the Sarria connection remains a viable influence. A further link exists in the maker of the 'Red Dragon' Card, created by Jolly Roger. After winning a court case, Melvin Belli would often raise a Jolly Roger flag over his Montgomery Street office building in the Barbary Coast district of San Francisco, returning full circle to the Halloween Card characteristics once more.Mason and Geary Street, the supposed intersection where fate carried Paul Stine to his death, bisects the Nob Hill and Tenderloin districts, and combines both the LGBT and theater influences under one banner, but reference was made by Robert Graysmith stating that Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac Killer from outside the Westin St Francis Hotel situated at 335 Powell Street, relatively close by. Jose Sarria was arrested at the Westin St Francis public restrooms for solicitation, a location frequented by homosexuals, and police in tandem, attempting to clamp down on such activities.The Zodiac Killer liked dressing up, as we saw during his Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969,- he apparently had access to disguises, that he alluded to in the Bus Bomb Letter on November 9th 1969, when in response to Chief of Police Martin Lee, he stated "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different". The question is, how different did he look the rest of the time. The Halloween Card was taken as a perceived threat on the life of San Francisco reporter Paul Avery, but how serious a threat was it considered, after all the Zodiac Killer apologized on the inside of the envelope addressed to Paul Avery with 'sorry no cipher' and sealed it with a kiss.

The narcissistic qualities of the Zodiac Killer remained unabated during a five year reign of terror that centered on the San Francisco Chronicle, however its ripples would be felt not only in Northern California, but wider America, as detectives grappled to unearth the identity of this elusive killer. The killer of five threatened to reveal his identity, seemingly less than forthcoming when it actually came down to it, but this may not be the case. In the San Francisco Chronicle letter mailed on July 31st 1969 Zodiac stated "I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper. In this cipher is my idenity." Even the most optimistic detective believed the Zodiac would never be this foolish, although he would again reiterate this claim four days later in the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter, which in grandiose fashion declared himself to the world with the opening gambit "This is the Zodiac Speaking." In this letter he claimed "By the way, are the police having a good time with the code? If not, tell them to cheer up; when they do crack it, they will have me". However when the 408 character cipher was eventually cracked it appeared to reveal little in the way of a name, although the Zodiac never actually claimed it would, only his identity, which is something entirely different. The Bay Area killer had now given us a pseudonym, so what could he be referring to. Well the short answer is actually long, he could be referring to almost anything, but on this occasion we shall examine the possibility the Zodiac Killer left part of his identity..the initials of his name. In further communication he would continue this theme, mailing the 13 Symbol Cipher on April 20th 1970 stating "'This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you. My name is...." and the Halloween Card on October 27th 1970 adding "I feel it in my bones, You ache to know my name, And so I'll clue you in." The following is by no means one of the many outlandish claims of a solution, moreover an observation whose ripples may travel no further than this page.

The first thing to notice is the claim of the Zodiac Killer "By the way, are the police having a good time with the code? If not, tell them to cheer up; when they do crack it, they will have me." is actually true. When the 408 Cipher was cracked they did 'have me' on the 17th and 18th line of the cipher. This may be a play on words and means very little on its own, so let us move forward to the 13 Symbol Cipher where Zodiac teased us once more, "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you. My name is...." Is it possible that his initials were contained within this cipher. It has been widely accepted that this cipher is simply too short to generate a verifiable name with any confidence, but it has been widely considered that what is perceived as three circled eights may have some significance.

Let us try moving 8 places to the right from each circled eight, continuing back to the beginning of the cipher where necessary. From the first eight we land on the letter M. From the second eight we land on the letter E. From the third eight we land on the Zodiac symbol. This simply gives us ME (Zodiac symbol). Are these the initials of the Zodiac Killer, unlikely, so onward we go.

​The next correspondence to tempt us with his name was the Halloween Card mailed six months later and held the message, albeit part of the original card "I feel it in my bones, You ache to know my name, And so I'll clue you in." So likely having deliberately chosen this specific card, where is the clue.

CLICK TO EXPAND

The inside portion of the card is shown on the right. Around the knothole in the tree Zodiac adds the phrase "peek a boo you are doomed." All the letters are an equal size apart from the two letters ME, which are noticeably larger as if to imply emphasis. In addition the 'BOO' element directly lines up with ME.The Zodiac Killer also adds BOO to the left of the skeleton, but does not write it in line with the original text, deciding to angle it in the same fashion as the BOO by the knothole. This, like the text in the tree lines up exactly with the letters ME, conveniently peering out beyond the skeleton arm. Was this a deliberate action on behalf of the Zodiac Killer, inserting his initials into the Halloween Card or more likely pure coincidence. Why did he emphasize the ME around the knothole or was it accidental.More egotistical elements would be apparent in the Melvin Belli letter urging "please help me" on no less than three occasions and in his last confirmed correspondence described as the 'Exorcist Letter' mailed on January 29th 1974 the Zodiac would finally sign out, not with the Zodiac crosshair detailing his victim count, but the letters ME - 37. See here.​This is likely another case of searching for patterns where they do not exist, an affliction suffered by many who get embroiled in this case for any period of time, but there's no harm in trying. The answer may be an arms length away.

This is a continuation of the 'Skeleton in the Closet' article for which I will post a link below, but is a further examination of the Halloween Card mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 27th 1970 and the reasons behind its design. Undoubtedly it was mailed to Paul Avery and on the face of it appeared to contain a veiled threat toward the San Francisco reporter, but the question remains, was it actually a threat or in fact disguised humor directed at the reporter, as the card itself was bereft of any direct reference to harming Paul Avery himself. On October 18th 1969 Paul Avery ran a piece in the San Francisco Chronicle describing the Zodiac Killer as a 'latent homosexual'. Under the banner Zodiac-Portrait of the Killer he stated "The killer of five who calls himself 'Zodiac' is a clumsy criminal, a liar and possibly a latent homosexual."Law enforcement and structured journalism will often attempt to provoke a reaction from a criminal, in this case a murderer, to generate a response that somehow undermines their anonymity and in doing so aid their capture, whether the claim of the article bears any truth or not. In this case the delay between Paul Avery's article and the Halloween Card arrival would suggest not, after all the lag is approximately one year, that is until we drill down into the Halloween Card, not for complex answers or mathematical solutions, but for the sheer simplicity of it all. The ultimate aim of trawling the Zodiac material would be to generate a name or narrow down the suspect list, and the following attempts to do this, admittedly it is a long shot, but a list of names can be found in print and examined for any match or connection to existing suspects already highlighted in this case.​

The Halloween Card itself states 'From Your Secret Pal' and the Zodiac Killer has strategically placed a pumpkin over the genitalia of the first skeleton. Of course this could mean anything, nevertheless it is depicting an act of concealment, of something hidden from prying eyes. Then on the inside of the card the pumpkin has effectively been removed, or to be more precise it has not been implemented and the crotch area of the skeleton is now exposed to the accompaniment of the word BOO and implied shock value of such a revelation. The exposure is now in full view of the many eyes littered across the card and the secret is out of the bag. One does not know if this is cheap toilet humor on behalf of Zodiac in response to Paul Avery, but to uncover the truth we shall examine the Halloween Card even further.'Skeleton in the closet', coined in the 19th century, is a colloquial phrase and idiom used to describe an undisclosed fact about someone which, if revealed, would have a negative impact on perceptions of the person and since we are examining this card as a response to Paul Avery, in view of his 'latent homosexual' remark in the San Francisco Chronicle, this phrase has some credence, bearing in mind the design of the Halloween Card.Coming out of the closet is widely used by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT) as affirmation of their real, yet previously hidden or concealed sexual identity.

It has been suggested that the Zodiac Killer may have been of British origin because of his use of language, however it is equally possible he may have been exposed to British parentage or quite simply worked in or around a theatrical environment, facilitating his access to disguises and more importantly the materials for his Lake Berryessa costume.This brings us to the underlined LAV on the Halloween Card envelope. This could easily have been a simple underscore, having no meaning whatsoever, but let us assume for a moment this was not the case and it did have an intentional hidden meaning in line with the rest of the correspondence. If the Zodiac Killer was of British origin or of theatrical leanings, what could the word LAV mean. The word lav is an abbreviation for lavatory or water closet, often used in British culture and could provide us with a link back to the homosexuality angle. On the outside of the envelope we have closet, within the envelope on the card we have skeletons, we have skeletons in the closet. Admittedly this is a reach, so let us examine further the contention that Zodiac may have been a latent homosexual or for that matter one who had already come out of the closet.It has also been considered that Zodiac had a military connection, in part because of the Wing Walker boot impressions discovered at Lake Berryessa and what we do know, is that homosexuality and the military did not go hand in hand, certainly not in the 1960's and 1970's and beyond. The Zodiac Killer was indelibly linked to San Francisco, most of his mailings were to the San Francisco Chronicle, along with his final confirmed murder, a marked deviation from his previous attacks on lone couples across the bay. Paul Stine was believed to have picked up his final passenger from the theater district near the intersection of Mason and Geary Streets, while some believe it may have been around the area of Nob Hill or the Tenderloin District. San Francisco in the 1960's had overseen a marked change, the Castro District being one, having transformed from a working class area to a prominent symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movements. After World War II many military personnel courted the area, unwilling to return to a life incompatible with homosexuality and other forms of behavior and areas like the Tenderloin and Castro Street became the home to many gay bars and sex clubs. The Mason and Geary Street intersection bisects the Nob Hill and Tenderloin districts, combines both the LGBT and theater influences under one banner, and may place the Zodiac Killer integral to this area, based on the only time he failed to use his own vehicle in the commission of a crime. The question remains where had he been earlier that night.

The Zodiac Killer appeared to project a feeling of emnity towards the police and newspapers, in particular the San Francisco Chronicle and leads us to consider what caused his attacks on predominantly young heterosexual couples and his bitterness and enjoyment in taunting the police and San Francisco Chronicle for nearly five years. The Halloween festival, LGBT community, police and San Francisco Chronicle are inextricably linked in the 1960's and 1970's. Halloween in the Tenderloin grew in the early 1960s with the growing LGBT community and welcomed tourists – who many of the prostitutes and hustlers relied upon for income. By the late 1960s, a major celebration area during Halloween was along Grant Avenue in North Beach, on which there were many gay bars in the late 1960s between Broadway and Union.In the early years of San Francisco it was against the law for men to dress up in women's clothing, but an exception was made for one night only on Halloween, a pagan celebration that would become the adopted day for gay celebrations. Gay bars were often the targets of extortion by police and people were often rounded up and hauled before the courts. Raids on gay bars were routine, with everyone inside the raided bar taken into custody and charged with such crimes as being "inmates in a disorderly house". Although the charges were routinely dropped, the arrested patrons' names, addresses and workplaces were printed in the newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle.Considering the military angle, persecution by the policeand 'gay shaming' in the newspapers, could this all have come together, in part, to become the trigger for Zodiac's compulsion to fight back against a system he felt alienated by.​As early as 1963 Castro Street opened its first gay bar, the 'Missouri Mule'. One such person was gay activist and entertainer Jose Sarria, who himself had served in World War II, but continued to fight against police harassment against not only gay people, but gay establishments as a whole, having performed in the 'Black Cat Bar' at 710 Montgomery Street, a north-south thoroughfare. 1228 Montgomery Street was the former residence of Melvin Belli, who became embroiled in the Zodiac case, with Melvin Belli, Jose Sarria and the San Francisco becoming intertwined in respect to these police raids and just may have been the reason the Zodiac Killer turned to Melvin Belli in later communication.In consultation with attorney Melvin Belli, Sarria countered this tactic by distributing labels to his fellow drag queens (hand-made, in the shape of a black cat's head) that read "I am a boy". If confronted, the queen would simply display the tag to prove that there was no intent to deceive. Sarria's actions helped bring an end to Halloween police raids.The Zodiac Killer made reference to the counterculture buttons in the Dragon Card and Button Letter stating "If you dont want me to have this blast you must do two things. Tell everyone about the bus bomb with all the details. I would like to see some nice Zodiac buttons wandering about town. Everyone else has these buttons like, black power, melvin eats bluber, etc. Well it would cheer me up considerably if I saw a lot of people wearing my buton. Please no nasty ones like melvin's." The reference to 'melvin eats bluber', is based on the creation of buttons in the mid to late 60's by Irwin Weisfeld, in the form of a counter culture expressionism. The actual pin button says Melville Eats Blubber, which is in fact referring to Herman Melville, the creator of Moby Dick, published in 1851.

In response to the perceived threat on Paul Avery in the Halloween Card, colleagues would adorn buttons on their clothing similar to the "I am a boy" declaration, but on this occasion would read "I am not Paul Avery."​Was the Zodiac Killer demanding people to wear Zodiac buttons influenced by his experiences in the gay bars of San Francisco years earlier.Melvin Belli was also well known for 'Elmer' the skeleton, which he often used in his medical malpractice suits and after winning a court case, Belli would often raise a Jolly Roger flag over his Montgomery Street office building in the Barbary Coast district of San Francisco.Are the above in anyway responsible for the 'toilet humor' employed by the Zodiac Killer within the Halloween Card, created as a direct result of his experiences of vilification and persecution by the police and San Francisco Chronicle in the homosexual climate of fear he lived in, that ultimately drove him on his conquest of revenge and retribution. Is there any chance, however small, that the Zodiac Killer's name, address and workplace may be found in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper archives, as a result of the 'gay shaming' that occurred throughout the 1960's and 70's. Is there a name we may recognize in print or has the Zodiac Killer's identity once again slipped through the ever diminishing cracks.http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/skeleton-in-the-closet

The following article is an updated version of a previous post, expanded and covered in greater detail. It is not particularly a line of investigation that I subscribe to, but it attempts to compare the Zodiac Killer's Halloween Card mailed on October 27th 1970 with the Harper Lee novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird', published in 1960 and turned into a film in 1962 featuring Gregory Peck, Robert Duvall, Mary Badham and Phillip Alford. Set in the fictional town of Maycomb, the film explored the deep set racial undertones prevalent in American society, brought to the forefront, as lawyer Atticus Finch fought to defend a black man accused of rape in Alabama. The film won three Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor.

Scout Finch played by Mary Badham

The most reclusive character in the film was Arthur "Boo" Radley, who went by the shortened version Boo Radley. The first thing to be noticed on the Halloween Card envelope, is the misspelled name of the reporter Paul Avery to Paul Averly, which emphasizes the 'ley' part. Was this deliberate. On the inside of the card he places the word BOO in bold letters. Now we have "Boo" and "ley", and the "rad" is not far away, in actual fact it crosses the "LAV" of "SLAVES" on the Halloween Card paradice and slaves configuration, which incidentally was underlined on the reporter's name. The Zodiac Killer may not have given us a cipher but had he given us "Boo Radley". Sounds far-fetched. However we could drag up the authors name, this contains "Lee", and the name of the book. "To Kill a Mockingbird " can be formed in part, not only from the Exorcist Letter symbols, but Zodiac himself claimed "sla" meant "to kill" in the SLA Letter, although "val" is the root of Valhalla, meaning 'hall of the slain' and 'val' actually means 'to kill'. And "val" reversed is "lav" taking us back to the underlined section of the reporter's name. It makes perfect sense no. Surely it does.Boo Radley was a much misunderstood character in the novel, feared by the local schoolchildren, with rumors abound. He was described by Jem (brother of Scout Finch) as "6 1/2 feet tall... dined on all the raw squirrels and cats he could catch... you could never wash the blood off... there was a large scar that ran across his face... his eyes popped and he drooled most of the time." In fact Boo Radley's house and chicken yard backed onto Maycomb School. Funny that, I remember Arthur Leigh Allen slaughtered chickens and squirrels and was never far from schools, but coincidence aside, we shall move on.The children fear the Radley House, believing the trees are poisoned, but in one such tree a knot-hole exists, that forms a connection between Boo Radley and Scout and Jem. Periodically the reclusive Boo Radley places objects in the knot-hole for Scout and Jem to find, this was his outlet to the world. On different days they would find presents that included carved soap figures, a ball of twine, chewing gum, a broken pocket watch and an aluminium knife on a key chain and an Indian medal, many in pairs, one for each child. This was their 'Tree Treasure'. In fact 'Tree Treasure' was one of the tracks created for the musical score accompanying the film, composed by Elmer Bernstein. Two other tracks on the musical score were called 'Boo Who' and 'Peek-a-boo'. Strange that.The Halloween Card had a knot-hole in the tree with the words peek-a-boo circled around it.Peek-a-boois the act of concealing ones face behind the hands or other object, before suddenly appearing back into view and uttering the words peek-a-boo. It can be seen in Wikipedia that many variations involve trees, similar to the depiction on the Halloween Card, where 'Hiding behind that tree' is added. See here. That eye was certainly hiding in the Halloween Card tree, was it not. Didn't the Zodiac Killer hide behind a tree at Lake Berryessa and hide his face behind a mask, yes, he actually did both. When he eventually came into view his identity was concealed. When the Halloween Card was removed from the envelope, it goaded us "I feel it in my bones, you ache to know my name, and so I'll clue you in" and once opened it revealed the word "BOO". I know what your thinking "Boo Who." Well I had to squeeze it in.The sister card to the Halloween Card, the Eureka Card was very similar in design, and once again from our 'secret pal', but this time it had a present from Zodiac, not an aluminium knife and pocket watch on a key chain, but something far better, a photocopy of a pair of keys on a key chain. Can you figure it out.

In the novel Scout and Jem construct a snowman, made initially from mud, then layered with snow, a theme many believe is inferring the racist overtones of the story, although its interpretation is subjective. A snowman was depicted on the Eureka Card, with what appeared to be Groucho Marx imagery on the face. Jem and Scout built this snowman because of their dislike of a local resident down the street, but their father Atticus told the children to disguise it, because it so resembled the local resident they were poking fun at, so they placed Miss Maudie's hat on it. That resident they hated was called MR AVERY, now that is a coincidence, along with release date of the film December 25th 1962, in Los Angeles, California. The Eureka Card was mailed in December and depicted a Christmas scene. Facing the snowman was a cute rabbit. I hope Arthur Leigh Allen didn't slaughter rabbits as well as chickens and squirrels. Incidentally Scout and Jem went to a Halloween celebration. In the book on Chapter 28, the schoolchildren are encouraged to dress up as the local agricultural products of Maycomb for the Halloween night pageant, rather than go trick or treating. Scout is dressed as a piece of ham, and on the way home after the pageant Jem and Scout are attacked by somebody and rescued by Boo Radley. As we all know Bob Ewell is later found dead under a tree, with a knife stuck in him. It is curious that the skeleton on the Halloween Card is also wearing agricultural produce. Is that a pumpkin I see. And that tree keeps coming up.Was this card based on the Lake Berryessa attack or could the Zodiac have been peeking out, playing hide and seek in the Julius Khan Park in the Presidio. I feel something in my bones.Anyway here ends the story, the only question left to ask is, have I now created a second piece of fiction. By the way, is that a key in the opening sequence of the film; however I can only see one. Most of the gifts were supposed to be in pairs. Is it under the soap figure. I suppose I'll have to keep looking. http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/332457/To-Kill-A-Mockingbird-Movie-Clip-Opening-Maycomb.html

We have spent nearly fifty years studying the Zodiac Killer, delving into the mind of a murderer, attempting to unlock the driving force behind his reign of terror and uncover the mind behind the madness, and we are by no way short of ideas. As many observers have pointed out, our killer may have had a military connection, had theatrical links either professionally or personally, including an oriental link, born out by three references to the Mikado and the symbols portrayed on the Exorcist Letter, had an affinity towards movies and a penchant for the cryptic. However on the flip side he portrayed an illiterate, egotist with a flair for a lack of subtlety, displayed in unstinting fashion in his 408 Cipher, in which he states candidly "to kill something gives me the most thrilling experience it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl". The thing is, he may have been telling the truth, if San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery was to be believed. On October 18th 1969 he ran a piece in the San Francisco Chronicle describing the Zodiac Killer as a 'latent homosexual'. Under the banner Zodiac-Portrait of the Killer he stated "The killer of five who calls himself 'Zodiac' is a clumsy criminal, a liar and possibly a latent homosexual." How close this description is to reality is open to question, but it has some legs and is worth investigating. The Zodiac Killer addressed Paul Avery personally when he sent the Halloween Card on October 27th 1970, approximately one year after this article was written, and bearing in mind the killer's ability to reduce everything to base level and the aforementioned characteristics he displayed in his missives, this is how we shall approach this card.

Two notable features of this card were the two skeletons, one of which had a pumpkin placed over the genital area. It was after all four days before Halloween, so the pumpkin and skeletons were not unusual, but why would the Zodiac Killer choose a pumpkin, of all the things he could have chosen and in particular place it in such a fashion. The Zodiac Killer also underlined the 'lav' in the misspelled reporter's name Paul Averly. These two features of the card, along with the phrase 'peek-a-boo', implied a suggestion of something hidden. Some Zodiac researchers have explored the possibility the Zodiac was of English origin, on account of his word usage, such as 'shall', infrequently used in American English, but by the same token a word frequently used by thespians. Peek-a-boois known as Peep-bo in British culture and is the act of concealing ones face behind the hands or other object, before suddenly appearing back into view and uttering the words peek-a-boo or peep-bo. It can be seen in Wikipedia that many variations involve trees, similar to the depiction on the Halloween Card, where 'Hiding behind that tree' is added. See here.Whether or not it is a significant phrase by the Zodiac Killer is open to question, but Peep-Bo is a character that features during Act I of the Mikado.The eyes peering from the tree, peek-a-boo and the hidden gender, may just have been the start of a form of 'toilet humor' backlash or closet acceptance that the Paul Avery reference to Zodiac possibly being a 'latent homosexual' had been officially noted. After all 'lav' is a colloquialism used in English speech for lavatory or 'water closet'. A 'closet homosexual' is used for people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and ties in nicely with the English phrase 'skeleton in the closet', coined in the 19th century, a colloquial phrase and idiom used to describe an undisclosed fact about someone which, if revealed, would have a negative impact on perceptions of the person. Falling back to the theatrical connection and the Mikado, 'Skeleton in the Closet' was a 1965 Japanese 'Pink Film', also called 'Secrets Behind the Wall'. A 'Pink Film' deals with Japanese theatrical films of nudity, almost exclusively shot on 35mm film, but in order to circumvent censorship restrictions Japanese directors carefully positioned props over the actors private parts, although one doubts a pumpkin found its way on to set very often. Incidentally pumpkin seeds have long been used in parts of Asia for boosting sexual performance and prostate health.

Castro Street in San Francisco

The Zodiac Killer is indelibly linked to San Francisco, most of his mailings were to the Chronicle, along with his final confirmed murder, a marked deviation from his previous attacks on lone couples across the bay. Paul Stine was believed to have picked up his final passenger from the theater district near the intersection of Mason and Geary Streets, while some believe it may have been around the area of Nob Hill or the Tenderloin District. San Francisco in the 1960's had overseen a marked change, the Castro District being one, having transformed from a working class area to a prominent symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movements. After World War II many military personnel courted the area, unwilling to return to a life incompatible with homosexuality and other forms of behavior and areas like the Tenderloin and Castro Street became the home to many gay bars and sex clubs. As early as 1963 Castro Street opened its first gay bar, the 'Missouri Mule'. One such person was gay activist and entertainer Jose Sarria, who himself had served in World War II, but continued to fight against police harassment against not only gay people, but gay establishments as a whole, having performed in the 'Black Cat Bar' at 710 Montgomery Street, a north-south thoroughfare. The idea of a hidden body was extensively used in the Gothic novels of the Victorian period. Edgar Allen Poe was best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, one such example was this extract from 'The Black Cat' in 1845. "Gentlemen, I delight to have allayed your suspicions", and here, through the mere frenzy of bravado, I rapped heavily upon that very portion of the brick-work behind which stood the corpse of the wife of my bosom. The wall fell bodily. The corpse, already greatly decayed, stood erect before the eyes of the spectators." .It has been suggested that the phrase 'skeleton in the closet' derives from the era of the notorious body snatchers, that is, prior to 1832, when the UK's Anatomy Act allowed the more extensive use of corpses for medical research. The theory goes that, in a scenario similar to that of the concealment of Catholic priests in priest holes in domestic houses in Elizabethan England, doctors would conceal in cupboards the illegally held skeletons they used for teaching. There's no evidence at all to corroborate that theory. Concealed skeletons are occasionally found in walled-up in houses but they are usually those of unwanted infants. See here. In the early years of San Francisco it was against the law for men to dress up in women's clothing, but an exception was made for one night only on Halloween, a pagan celebration that would become the adopted day for gay celebrations. Sarria encouraged patrons to be as open and honest as possible, exhorting the clientele, "There's nothing wrong with being gay–the crime is getting caught," and "United we stand, divided they catch us one by one." At closing time, he would lead patrons in singing "God Save Us Nelly Queens" to the tune of "God Save the Queen". Sometimes he would take the crowd outside to sing the final verse to the men across the street in jail, who had been arrested in raids earlier in the night.Raids on gay bars were routine, with everyone inside the raided bar taken into custody and charged with such crimes as being "inmates in a disorderly house". Although the charges were routinely dropped, the arrested patrons' names, addresses and workplaces were printed in the newspapers. When charges were not dropped, the arrested men usually quietly pleaded guilty. Sarria encouraged men to plead not guilty and demand a jury trial. Following Sarria's advice, more and more gay men began demanding jury trials, so many that court dockets were overloaded and judges began expecting that prosecutors have actual evidence against the accused before going to trial. One favored harassment technique, employed especially on Halloween after midnight, was to arrest drag queens under an old city ordinance that made it illegal for a man to dress in women's clothing with an "intent to deceive". In consultation with attorney Melvin Belli, Sarria countered this tactic by distributing labels to his fellow drag queens (hand-made, in the shape of a black cat's head) that read "I am a boy". If confronted, the queen would simply display the tag to prove that there was no intent to deceive. Sarria's actions helped bring an end to Halloween police raids Excerpt from Wikipedia. The Zodiac Killer certainly seemed to have many things in common with San Francisco, is it possible he was a 'latent homosexual' as described by Paul Avery, who harbored a resentment against police and officialdom, strikingly evident in his correspondence to the San Francisco Chronicle, not to mention his linkage to Melvin Belli, through the 'Call to Chat Show' spectacle, the Dragon Card mailed on April 28th 1970 calling for people to wear his nice Zodiac buttons, possibly on their lapels, similar to the hand-made labels of protest above and the Melvin Belli Letter mailed on the anniversary of Lake Herman Road just before Christmas.

Melvin Mouron Belli photographed in 1967

Halloween in the Tenderloin grew in the early 1960s with the growing LGBT community and welcomed tourists – who many of the prostitutes and hustlers relied upon for income. By the late 1960s, a major celebration area during Halloween was along Grant Avenue in North Beach, on which there were many gay bars in the late 1960s between Broadway and Union. Excerpt from Wikipedia. Melvin Belli was a flamboyant showman and prominent attorney summoned to appear on the Jim Dunbar Chat Show supposedly by the Zodiac Killer, along with Francis Lee Bailey, well known for his involvement in the Patty Hearst SLA trial, something again the Zodiac seemed at pain to point out. Melvin Belli was famous for his use of 'Elmer' the skeleton which he often used in his medical malpractice suits, shown here in a photograph from True Magazine in 1959 and here in Getty Images. After winning a court case, Belli would raise a Jolly Roger flag over his Montgomery Street office building in the Barbary Coast district of San Francisco (which Belli claimed had been a Gold Rush-era brothel) and fire a cannon, mounted on his office roof, to announce the victory and the impending party. See Wikipedia for Melvin Belli. The Dragon Card mentioned above contained these lines "If you dont want me to have this blast you must do two things. Tell everyone about the bus bomb with all the details. I would like to see some nice Zodiac buttons wandering about town. Everyone else has these buttons like, black power, melvin eats bluber, etc. Well it would cheer me up considerably if I saw a lot of people wearing my buton. Please no nasty ones like melvin's.Thank you." The card used was a Jolly Roger greetings card.and we know that a Jolly Roger is a traditional English name used to refer to the flag depicting part of a skeleton and displayed on pirate ships. The links are there but are they interconnected. Was the Halloween Card a form of base subtle humor, along with the Dragon Card that implied the Zodiac Killer did indeed harbor a deep felt resentment against not only against Paul Avery and the San Francisco Chronicle, but also the police in general, not only for the reasons we have become accustomed to, but for reasons far more personal to our killer, leaving us to wonder if the 'skeletons in the closet' may have been rattled loose just slightly and the 'mask' of the Zodiac Killer may one day fall to reveal his true identity.

The Pines Card sent to the San Francisco Chronicle March 22nd 1971 has courted controversy on its validity as Zodiac correspondence, but it just may be the most important of them all. On first viewing it appears just a jumble of pasted words scattered randomly, but it is far from that and along with the address side may hold the key to the entire story. It was possibly the Zodiac Killer's final attempt to push us in the right direction, to reveal the mind behind his murders and show us that religion, mathematics and coding were integral to virtually every letter, card and cipher he mailed to authorities. Three correspondences, that of the 13 Hole Postcard mailed on October 5th 1970, the Halloween Card mailed on October 27th 1970 and the Pines Card mailed on March 22nd 1971 were as close as he would ever go to revealing the man behind the mask.This article will cover old ground, but expand slightly on the 'Hidden Message in the Pines' posting, but comes with a warning, if you are not a proponent of mathematics being used as a tool in unlocking the mystery of the Zodiac material, then it is wise that you progress no further. However, here, no mind bending techniques will be used, we will place the wording into the code and what falls out is the answer, nothing more.The first thing to do is take everything back to basics, why did the Zodiac Killer choose the name Zodiac. When most people think of Zodiac, the horoscopes come to mind, this is the simplest answer and this is what our killer did. He used his own moniker of the crossed circle in all of his ciphers, so if he was to create a numeric answer to each card or cipher, he had to first apply a numeric value to his crosshair. This was revealed in the Pines Card, but can be found in numerous other places.The thought is the Zodiac Killer developed his own key, based around the 13 Symbol Cipher, although where it came from is not important, what is important though, is that it works in the 13 Symbol Cipher, the Button Letter 32 Symbol Cipher, the 13 Hole Postcard, the Halloween Card, the Pines Card and the story may have began in the 340 Cipher.So lets start with the Pines Card using the gematric code key the Zodiac chose.

Notice in the Pines Card below we have placed the phrases into the code on the right to achieve a total of 315. This figure is also achieved by placing the entire Zodiac horoscope into the code. The 12 signs of the Zodiac are Aquarius (34), Capricorn (28), Sagittarius (56), Scorpio (26), Libra (15), Virgo (24), Leo (9), Cancer (18), Gemini (24), Taurus (31), Aries (22) and Pisces (28). These figures also add up to 315. But there was more. Placing the top row of the gematric code alongside the 13 Symbol Cipher, A through to M, and alphabetically

counting the difference between each column, only the numbers 3,1 and 5 fall out. If we apply the gematric code directly to the letters A,E,N,K,M,N,A,M on the 13 Symbol Cipher, the figures 1,5,1,3,1,1,1 and 1 appear, again only the numbers 3,1 and 5. See below. Lawrence Kane became a Zodiac suspect as he had worked at the same hotel as Donna Lass, missing, presumed murdered when she vanished after her nurses shift at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 6th 1970. Strangely KANE is present on the left side of the 13 Symbol Cipher and KANE in the gematric code again only produces the figures 3,1,1,5, ie: the numbers 315 in order.It was considered that this paste up card may have been indicating a burial site for Donna Lass, in view of the punch hole the author placed in the top right corner,

but this would have been too easy and a search of the site proved negative. However the Pines Card depicted an advertisement for the Forest Pines condominiums near Clair Tappaan Lodge, Norden, California, located on Sierra Club property. The Clair Tappaan Lodge is exactly 315 degrees on a compass, when the compass is centered over the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, where Donna Lass went missing, so all may not be lost.The circular punch hole nevertheless, still suggested a location of where Donna Lass may be buried and the author of the Pines Card had flipped the phrase 'around in the snow' 180 degrees, into an upside down position, to suggest this.You will notice that the phrase 'around in the snow' totals 56 in the code, yet when flipped 180 degrees, it reads 95.This is very interesting because as explained in the 'Hidden Message in the Pines' article, when you place the left corner of the card over Clair Tappaan Lodge, dependent on scale, the punch hole falls over US Highway 95.U.S. Route 95 (US 95) is a major U.S. highway traversing the US state of Nevada from north to south, directly through Las Vegas and providing connections to both Carson City (via US 50) and Reno (via Interstate 80). US 95 is cosigned with Interstate 80, for 95 miles between a junction in Churchill County and Winnemucca before heading north into Oregon at McDermitt. (Taken from Wikipedia). View on Google Maps.Was this the hint of a possible burial site, somewhere close to US Route 95 in Nevada.

This is a direct and fast route away from South Lake Tahoe into relatively barren terrain, heading towards parts of the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest. View on Google Maps.The Pines Card punch hole however, could equally fall near or over Pine Mountain situated within the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest. It would have depended on the dimensions of the map he used and the correct measurements of the Pines Card itself, if indeed this was its purpose at all. The green region on the map on the left, just to the right of the number 95 contains Paradise Peak. We now have Pine Mountain and Paradise Peak, and a possible source for the phrase 'Peek through the Pines', but of course this is still highly unlikely.Is it possible the Zodiac Killer owned or rented a cabin within this region, its remoteness is the perfect hideout, who knows.If the Zodiac Killer did reside within the region of San Francisco, Vallejo or Benicia areas, then the phrase 'pass lake tahoe areas' from his perspective makes perfect directional sense, to discover any burial site. Your passing of the Lake Tahoe area, on a straight line, heads directly towards the region of Pine

Mountain and Paradise Peak, seen here on the right. In fact straight through Clair Tappaan Lodge, it would bisect these two landmarks.So let us go back to our number 315, that is now representative of the Zodiac crosshair and apply it to the 13 Symbol Cipher, 32 Symbol Cipher and 13 Hole Postcard. It was suggested through many previous posts that the Zodiac Killer saw himself as some form of savior, delivering his victims to Paradise. In other words he was placing himself alongside Jesus, however uncomfortable a thought this vision may appear. It is not unusual for serial killers to have a religious agenda when they commit murder, albeit not the religion most people have grown up to understand. In Hebraic gematria Jesus is represented by the figure 888 and in English gematria Jesus is represented by the figure 444, so it would be highly improbable that if we used the Zodiac code he created for himself, along with the figure 315, that represented the Zodiac crosshair, both unsolved ciphers would equal 444 and applied to the 13 Hole Postcard would equal 888. But that is exactly what happens.The alphabetical characters on any code are directly placed into the gematric code key to give them a value, any symbols are simply converted to text form to give them a value.

Take a look at the 13 symbol Cipher on the left. It was often questioned whether or not the symbols were either three 8's to give us 888 or they were three Taurus symbols. It is entirely plausible the Zodiac Killer circled them so they could be interpreted as either. The three Taurus symbols for example are applied into the code as follows. TAURUS = 7+1+6+5+6+6 =31. But there are three so 3 X 31 = 93. The whole code totals 444 or JESUS.This technique is then applied in exactly the same manner to the Button Letter 32 Symbol Cipher seen below. This time we have an Omega symbol, so again the code is applied.OMEGA = 2+1+5+7+1 = 16

We can attribute a value to symbols, but not geometric shapes, for example on the Button Letter Cipher we have a triangle and a blacked in triangle or black triangle or solid triangle or dark triangle. The point is that the six geometric shapes cannot be attributed a specific name, to attribute a value to. So the 6 geometric shapes are only omitted for this reason, but everything that can be attributed a numeric value, has been. When totaled up, this cipher also equals 444.

Two unsolved ciphers totaling 444. And we know 444+444=888. But can we take this any further.The 13 Hole Postcard conforms to this gematric code also. When the phrases on the card are applied into the code the sum total of the card equals 888. It can be noticed that it leaves the name Jesus squarely alongside the name Zodiac on the postcard, declaring he was indeed the savior of souls. As with the symbols, the number 1 and 3 has been converted to text to attain a gematric value. This is not done for convenience, it is following the same principle throughout. See below. He even placed a red crucifix on the card to point us in the right direction. Also take a careful look at the very measured third line with the number 13 conveniently sandwiched in between, but this time leave the number as 13. The third line would now add up to 217+13+130, which equals 360. There are 360 degrees in a circle and the Zodiac did indeed punch 13 holes into the fabric of this card.

The Halloween Card and Pines Card could possibly have had a strong connection. The Zodiac gave us patterns of words on both. On the Halloween Card he gave us a form of cipher or cryptic message, by placing the words PARADICE and SLAVES in the form of a cross or crucifix. It was previously noted that it was comprised of 37 letters, with 24 letters in the four quadrants. The Pines Card was comprised of 74 letters, exactly double that of the Halloween Card configuration, but we were left with the number 12 on the Pines Card, which conversely was exactly half of 24. However 37 X 24 and 74 X 12 both equaled 888 once again.To view the Halloween Cipher in greater detail click here.One more curiosity was the envelope or address side of the Halloween Card, in which he misspells Paul Avery to Paul Averly and underlines it. Why did he do this.The idea that the Zodiac Killer designed his Halloween Card based on the Rota Fortunae or Wheel of Fortune, was inspired after reading a thread on the ZodiacKillerSite forum. The discovery was made by Tahoe27, when she noticed that a comic strip publication bore striking similarities to the October 27th 1970 offering from the Northern California killer. The Red Ryder comic strip was created by Stephen Slesinger and Fred Harman in 1938 and there was one particular publication entitled 'Tim Holt: The Death Wheel' that caught her attention. The Death Wheel contained the four methods of death the Zodiac Killer had placed around his cross of Paradice and Slaves, By Gun, By Rope, By Knife and By Fire, moreover the word 'By' was styled in near identical fashion. The Death Wheel in its entirety, showing the 12 methods of death, places the four Zodiac methods of murder in exactly the same order as we travel around the wheel and the use of the wording 'Lady Doom' reminds us of the wording around the knothole of the tree on the Halloween Card, where the Zodiac Killer places the phrase 'Peek-a-boo you are doomed'. Not only that, he designs it in a circular fashion.Furthermore Fred Harman owned a ranch in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where a particular style of cattle branding would elevate this finding to the next level, when the branding itself was compared to the strange symbol the Zodiac Killer placed on the Halloween Card envelope and the foot of the card once opened. Apart from the four dots, it is strikingly similar.The four dots on the Halloween Card symbol, that the killer placed on the envelope and inside of the card were shown to represent the number 62. See 'The Halloween Card Tetractys' article. But it was also noticed that if you place the correct and incorrect spelling of Paul Avery, that he underlined on the envelope, it totaled 62. Paul Averly in the gematric code = 3+1+6+2+1+5+5+5+2+2=32, but the correct spelling Paul Avery = 3+1+6+2+1+5+5+5+2=30. The two totals of 32 and 30 = 62, the exact total of The Wheel of Fortune, which also equaled 62. It is also noticeable, the Zodiac Killer places the words 'PEEK A BOO YOU ARE DOOMED', very deliberately in a circular formation around the knothole in the tree, but again, he could have chosen to write this normally underneath, so must have had a reason for this particular design. Well 'PEEK A BOO YOU ARE DOOMED' in the gematric code equals 62, to form The Wheel of Fortune once more.

But after all is said and done, can we verify that this gematric code has any basis in fact, or could it all be coincidence. The Zodiac Killer yet again gives us the misspelled name of Paul Avery on the address side of the Pines Card, exactly like he did on the Halloween Card, but this time he writes att.Paul averly = Chronicle, meaning attention. Paul Averly = Chronicle. But what does he mean and what is he saying. It is a curious phrase, that is, until you place it in the gematric code once again. Once this is done, it makes perfect sense and is just another clue, in a long list of clues the Zodiac Killer was pushing in our direction.

PAUL AVERLY = 3+1+6+2+1+5+5+5+2+2 = 32CHRONICLE = 3+6+5+2+1+5+3+2+5 = 32And 32 does indeed equal 32.This is why the Pines Card was the most important card of all, it tried to point us towards the number 315, that was integral to all the unsolved ciphers and the address side was the final stamp of approval.

The concept that the Zodiac Killer was driven by an undercurrent of religious leanings has now accelerated into a fully fledged conviction, that other than an egomaniacal desire for attention, the main driving force behind his murderous campaign and correspondence was ultimately born from the roots of the divine, and with good reason. The Foreigner first broached this subject in November 2009, when she wrote a piece on the Zodiac Killer Facts forum, showing a link between Jesus Christ, the 13 Symbol Cipher, the Zodiac Killer's literal leanings and the connection to Alpha and Omega, drawn straight from the Bible itself. A link to these findings will be posted at the foot of this article. The figure 888 and 444 on this site has now been shown to permeate virtually every major correspondence by the Zodiac Killer, including the 13 Symbol Cipher, 340 Cipher, Button Letter Cipher, 13 Hole Postcard, Pines Card and Halloween Card, using one code, along with simple mathematics, as his desire to point us in the right direction was to reach breaking point towards his latter correspondence. One thing The Foreigner highlighted was the fact the Zodiac Killer switched stamps on the 13 Hole Postcard and Halloween Card, to an Apollo 8 stamp, with the wording 'In the beginning God...' . Also prominent and individual to these cards was the form of a 'Paradice and Slaves' cross or crucifix on the Halloween Card and another crucifix bang center of the 13 Hole Postcard.

It has also been noted before, that the Apollo 8 mission began on December 21st 1968, the day after the Zodiac Killer claimed his first victims, at Lake Herman Road. However from a religious standpoint it could be actually be the same day. The phrase on the Halloween Card stamp is taken from the opening line of the Bible, Genesis 1:1 and the full verse is 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth', but Genesis 1:5 states 'And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day'. In Hebraic belief days begin at sundown. The murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were estimated at 11.15 pm. The launch of Apollo 8 was initiated at 7.51 am Eastern Standard Time the following morning. This was the first day. This was his beginning. In the King James version of John 1:1, it states 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God'. As shown on Wickipedia here , the Word is in capital form and it is taken to mean Jesus. In other words Jesus and God are one and the same. This from the religious standpoint of the Zodiac Killer is all too relevant when we consider how the 340 Cipher was constructed and in particular the first and last line of this cipher. Jos Kirps made an interesting connection when he found that the Halloween Card wording of Paradice and Slaves, in cross form, may possibly have been incorporated into the design of the 340 Cipher. See here. In the Book of Revelation it states 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty' . And this brings us back to TheForeigner's post noting the Alpha and Omega and leads us on nicely to the first and last line of the unsolved 340 character cipher.It can be observed that the first line of this cipher ends with three characters, that could be be interpreted as GOD. The eclipsed circle is similar to the Halloween Card stamp depiction of the earth, and the D is reversed. So bearing this in mind, we will place the entire phrase of the Halloween Card stamp onto the first line of the 340 Cipher. It fits exactly. This is the Alpha.

It has been suggested many times before that the Zodiac Killer, may have been aligning himself alongside Jesus, as some form of savior, delivering the victims of his brutal campaign, into his perception of everlasting life or Paradice, furthermore, incorporating these concepts front and center in the majority of his correspondence, spanning a five year period.All that was left to do now was find Jesus in the Omega, the final line, or the beginning and now the end. This is where we draw from an earlier post.The Zodiac Killer used the symmetry of three 8's in the 13 symbol cipher and we know that the number 888 in the Greek system of numerology represents Jesus. SEE HERE IN WIKIPEDIA.The Zodiac Killer sent us his complex 340 Cipher, but ever the egotist, was it possible, one of the keys he used within the cipher, was his own moniker, Zodiac. And he was to place it alongside the only apparent reference to his name, on the 20th line of the 340 Cipher. Shown here below.

If we then count alphabetically, the numerical difference between the columns, ZOD produces no difference at all, ie; 000.The IAC element produces 888. The Zodiac Killer possibly took the 000 and 888 and incorporated these elements, in the form of three circled 8's into his following 13 Symbol Cipher on April 20th 1970. Even the crossed circle and inverted Aries were carried forward.In creating 888 from the word Zodiac, he was literally placing himself alongside Jesus Christ, an alliance that despite its unpalatable nature, was only the beginning, and an alliance he would strengthen with each subsequent correspondence.See 'The Three Unsolved Ciphers Linked' and 'The Pines Card Prophecy'. The Zodiac Killer continued the religious inferences on the anniversary of the Lake Herman Road murders, when he mailed the December 20th 1969 letter to prominent attorney Melvin Belli, opening with the line 'I wish you a happy Christmass'. Here he spells Christmas incorrectly, although it is actually a spelling derivative of the two words Christ and Mass, a further reference to Jesus. Even the 13 Hole Postcard was linked back to the 340 Cipher, not only via the stamp and the 888 connection, but his referral to the 340 Cipher when he pasted the words 'FK I'm Crackproof'. See here. As far as we know, Lake Herman Road was the murderous beginnings of the Zodiac Killer and the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969 was quite possibly the end, when he stated two days later 'I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington and Maple St'. I am has been said to be the actual name of God.'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty'.

If you look at a timeline of the Zodiac letters and cards it becomes apparent they become more cryptic with the passing of time and with the exception of the Los Angeles Letter mailed on March 13th 1971, the Zodiac Killer sent us the 13 Hole Postcard, Halloween Card, Pines Card and Exorcist Letter one after another, in a last desperate attempt to push us in the right direction.Using the same code throughout all of his ciphers and cards we have shown that the numbers 888 and 444 are present in all of them, and despite the scepticism people have for number play, the attempt here was to use the same code, with no deviation in its use, from one cipher or card to another and therefore create a viable and uniform theory. Incidentally the number 888 in the Greek system of numerology represents Jesus. SEE HERE IN WIKIPEDIA and 444 represents Jesus in standard English gematria [ type here for confirmation ]. In all the examples previously documented, each alphabetical letter was substituted by a number from our code key and where a symbol existed, it was simply attributed its name. For example, if the symbol was ARIES, these five letters would be placed in the code, that's all.But before we could start, we had to find a value for the crossed circle symbol of the Zodiac Killer, as this was present in all the three unsolved ciphers, so without knowing its value any comparison could not be made. Some people believe it simply to be a moniker, but the author placed it within his codes, integral to their make up, so it had to represent more.A recent further finding in the Pines Card has finally placed the cherry on top of this particular cake and cemented the idea that the Zodiac Killer based his agenda on religion, and Jesus was at the forefront to his illusion of unbreakable ciphers.

He chose his crossed circle moniker for a reason and called himself Zodiac. But why Zodiac. Well there are 12 signs of the Zodiac, so lets go out on a limb and place them all in the gematric code he chose, based on the 13 Symbol Cipher. The reasoning behind the code has been explained multiple times before, so if this is new to you, place gematric in the search engine on this site and trawl through the available articles, but what will remain true, is that this code stays constant throughout. The 12 signs of the Zodiac are Aquarius (34), Capricorn (28), Sagittarius (56), Scorpio (26), Libra (15), Virgo (24), Leo (9), Cancer (18), Gemini (24), Taurus (31), Aries (22) and Pisces (28). These total up to315 in the code, this number would now become representative of the Zodiac symbol. The code is shown below right. For example ARIES = 1+5+5+5+6 = 22 and TAURUS = 7+1+6+5+6+6 = 31.

All that was left to do now was place a value to all the letters and symbols in the 13 Symbol Cipher to verify our hypothesis. Once it was done the total of the cipher came to 444. The same technique was also applied to the Button Letter code, to equal 444 also. All the cipher and card illustrations will be placed at the foot of this article together, so you can compare them for authenticity.All the card totals can be found in 'The Three Unsolved Ciphers Linked' article.

The Zodiac originally gave us the 888 link in the 340 Cipher, by using his name as the key, which he transplanted onto the 13 Symbol Cipher, although it may have come as early as the 408 Cipher, when he split the code into three sections of 8 lines.However in his later correspondence, namely the Halloween Card, Pines Card and Exorcist Letter his hints may have become a little more blatant, using simple mathematics, as he tried to edge us in the right direction.You will notice that the Halloween Card had 37 letters in and around the PARADICE and SLAVES configuration, we used to generate 888, using the 'sorry no cipher' key, in the article 'The Halloween Card Cipher'. However on the front of the card 'SECRET PAL' was present in bold writing and the number 14 was present on the skeletons hand. He never wrote 'secret pal', but he chose it.When SECRET PAL is placed in the gematric code it equals 37. [ 6+5+3+5+5+7+3+1+2 = 37 ].When FOURTEEN is placed in the gematric code it equals 37. [ 6+2+6+5+7+5+5+1 =37 ]Three instances of 37 and all integral to the card.The Zodiac, by all accounts, sent us his final letter, the Exorcist Letter on January 29th 1974, ending with the proclamation ME - 37, although this is another matter.But the Pines Card, although appearing the most nonsensical, was actually the key to the whole Zodiac enigma and until the Exorcist Letter symbols are fully decoded, is the final piece in the jigsaw and he was giving us one last chance to see his master plan of coding. As explained earlier the 12 signs of the Zodiac equaled 315 in our code. On the Pines Card he wrote five random phrases that together made little sense, that is because they were never meant to. The key, like the 12 signs of the Zodiac, was in the letters.Now lets examine the Pines Card, the letters on the card (excluding the number 12 after 'Sought Victim') and their numerical values in the gematric code above.SIERRA CLUB = 40PEEK THROUGH THE PINES = 93AROUND IN THE SNOW =56PASS LAKE TAHOE AREAS = 66SOUGHT VICTIM 12 = 60The sum of the totals equal 315, exactly the same as the 12 signs of the Zodiac.This has been explained in much greater detail in the 'Hidden Message in the Pines' article.It was always striking that on this card he declares 'Sought Victim 12', when he had already declared 12 victims in the Button Letter nine months earlier. In other words it was totally out of sequence with the rest of his correspondence.In the above article when the 12 was added back into the equation, in the text form of ONE and TWO, it revealed Jesus Christ and his disciples, making the figure 12 front and center to the make up of this card. We added up the total of the letters in the gematric code to give us 315, that was key to unlocking 888 and 444 in the 13 Symbol Cipher, 13 Hole Postcard and Button Letter. The figure 888 was also found in the Halloween Card, and may have been instrumental in the 340 and 408 Ciphers. But what about the Pines Card.In the Halloween Card we had 37 letters in the arrangement, so dropping the gematric code for a second, we will now add up the number of letters on the Pines Card. Sierra Club, Peek Through the Pines, Around in the Snow, Pass Lake Tahoe Areas and Sought Victim = 74.In the Halloween Card the 37 was multiplied, after the 'sorry no cipher' key was applied, to produce 37 X 24 = 888.Here the cipher key is 12, as it is integral to the card, but also out of place and once applied to the letters, exactly like the Halloween Card, it produces 74 X 12 = 888, for one final time.Well nearly, we still have the Exorcist Letter to examine and in particular his declaration of ME - 37. But for now the number 24 remains concealed within its design. However 'some day it may happen'.

The Halloween Card was mailed on October 27th 1970, one month after of the first Lake Berryessa anniversary, and one cannot help thinking the Zodiac Killer may have delayed this correspondence a short time, with Halloween providing the perfect backdrop to 'commemorate' his attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard on the shores of Lake Berryessa, bearing in mind that dressing up in costumes is central to the All Hallows Eve festivities. Before the attack on the couple, Cecelia Shepard noticed the eventual assailant conceal himself behind a tree, before approaching them bedecked in his executioners costume and it has not gone unnoticed that the Halloween Card parallels this to some extent, with eyes peering from the tree and the phrase 'peek-a-boo you are doomed' circled around a knothole on the tree, along with the mask on the skeleton. The author of the card accentuates the section 'ME' of 'DOOMED', lending weight to the thought he was indeed referring to himself as the eyes behind the tree.

The Lamplighters, hailed as one of the oldest company's in the Bay Area, specializing in Gilbert and Sullivan, operated at the Harding Theater throughout the 1960's and were performing the Mikado in San Francisco in 1969, opening on April 20th. This connection is nothing new, with many speculating the Zodiac Killer could have been a cast member or had viewed the production, prior to his version, when he tabled in the Little List Letter on July 26th 1970. But it is equally likely he may have been a theater technician, employed in the area of stage management, lighting, electrics or quite possibly wardrobe, trained in costume design, as a tailor or more specifically wardrobe crafts involving masks and disguises.In two other correspondences mailed by the Zodiac Killer he referenced three portions of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado. In the Little List Letter mailed on July 26th 1970 he paraphrases 'A more humane Mikado', plus 'As some day it may happen'. On the Exorcist Letter mailed on January 29th 1974 he refers to 'On a tree by a river', in what many believe to be the Zodiac Killer's final offering. But there could be a fourth reference to the Mikado production and we need look no further than the Halloween Card itself, with two possibilities.In 1888 Jack the Ripper terrorized the Whitechapel district of London. In the same year of somewhat less significance Ed J. Smith wrote a stage parody called The Capitalist; or, The City of Fort Worth. Designed to encourage capital investment in Fort Worth, Texas, and underwritten by local banks and railroad lines, the two act piece features characters named Yankee-Doo, Kokonut, By-Gum and Peek-A-Boo. Taken from Wikipedia.This drew its inspiration from the the Gilbert and Sullivan opera, however it may be pushing the boat out a little farther than necessary to suggest the Zodiac Killer was either aware or in any way influenced by this promotion.

One thing evident throughout his correspondence, was his use of the word 'shall', leading to speculation that he may have been of British origin, as the word 'shall', is infrequently used in American English, but another option exists. As a member of theater production, his exposure to the word 'shall' would have been far more common in the performance of stage plays, particularly in traditional works of English origin, but sought maximum impact when he took it to the next level and started crafting his own scripts.Peek-a-boo is known as Peep-bo in British culture and is the act of concealing ones face behind the hands or other object, before suddenly appearing back into view and uttering the words peek-a-boo or peep-bo. It can be seen in Wikipedia that many variations involve trees, similar to the depiction on the Halloween Card, where 'Hiding behind that tree' is added. See here.Whether or not it is a significant phrase by the Zodiac Killer is open to question, but Peep-Bo is a character that features during Act I of the Mikado.Peep-bo can also be reversed to Bo-peep, believed to originate from the 16th century practice of concealment, before reappearing to startle or surprise. See here.

Little Bo Peep is a popular English nursery rhyme The earliest record of this rhyme is in a manuscript of around 1805, which contains only the first verse. There are references to a children's game called "Bo-Peep", from the 16th century, including one in Shakespeare's King Lear (Act I Scene iv), but little evidence that the rhyme existed. The additional verses are first recorded in the earliest printed version in a version of Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus in 1810. The phrase "to play bo peep" was in use from the 14th century to refer to the punishment of being stood in a pillory. For example, in 1364, an ale-wife, Alice Causton, was convicted of giving short measure, for which crime she had to "play bo pepe thorowe a pillery". Andrew Boorde uses the same phrase in 1542, "And evyll bakers, the which doth nat make good breade of whete, but wyl myngle other corne with whete, or do nat order and seson hit, gyving good wegght, I would they myghte play bo pepe throwe a pyllery". Taken from Wikipedia.Little Bo Peep was a shepherdess, who lost her sheep and went in search to find them. The connection of shepherd to the Lake Berryessa attack via this route would be one hell of a stretch, however the connection to the theater, with an English slant, still remains an avenue for investigation.

All four confirmed attacks by the Zodiac Killer fell on the first day of the week on the 13 Moon Calendar, but that was only the beginning.

Why did the murderer of Paul Stine take the ignition keys from the car and his wallet. Here we will examine one possibility.

Further analysis of the Pines Card and its relationship to the 13 Symbol Cipher, Button Letter code and 13 Hole Postcard. Also, was this card integral to the Donna Lass disappearance on September 6th 1970.

Using blood pattern analysis and distribution to explain the story as it unfolded from the moment the killer requisitioned the taxicab in the theater district of San Francisco to the last possible sighting of the murderer.

Examining the most likely hot spot, the Zodiac Killer returned to after his murderous acts of evil, to narrow down a location to the small town of Benicia, a low crime rate, middle class community, with a population of roughly 5,000 in 1968/69.

Experimenting with the idea that a silencer was used in the commission of the Blue Rock Springs attack and furthermore a silencer or modified compressor was either used or carried during all four attacks of the Zodiac Killer.

On a cold, dark night back on December 20th 1968, a young couple were enjoying a late night out, parked up in their Rambler, on a lonely gravel turnout, just off the unlit, narrow winding road of Lake Herman, when an unknown assailant shattered the tranquil night time air, gunning down both David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen in cold blood and unleashing an unparalleled horror on a community, the like of which had never been seen before.

Examining the logical exit routes, away from each of the murder sites, using the premise that the Zodiac Killer would immediately head for a secure or safe location after each crime, usually home.

Analyzing the aftermath of the Lake Berryessa attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard, including the handwriting on the car door.

The Button and Little List letters were as intertwined as could possibly be. The story began with his choice of Mount Diablo as the focus and continued with his selection of the Phillips 66 Road Map itself.

An in depth analysis of the Pines Card sent to the San Francisco Chronicle on March 22nd 1971 and its possible links to the 13 Symbol Cipher.

In depth analysis of the unusual symbol on the envelope of the Halloween Card.

Searching within the Halloween Card for a cryptic message, linking this card with the callous murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969.

The possibility the Zodiac Killer murders were date specific. 12 Murders and one disappearance all falling on the first day of the 13 Moon Calendar within a 23 month period.

Subtle links between the novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird ' and the Halloween Card/Eureka Card.

The aftermath of Presidio Heights, examining the possible movements of the Zodiac Killer in the moments after the callous execution of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969.

Using simple mathematics to forge symmetry within the 13 Symbol Cipher, sent to the San Francisco Chronicle on April 20th 1970.

Finding pi within the Halloween Card.

A possible key within the 340 Cipher using the moniker Zodiac and continuing this link through to the 13 Symbol Cipher five months later.

Exploring the possible events post Blue Rock Springs and a plausible location area of the killers residence.

The murder of Shannon Olson on Halloween, three days after the mailing of this letter.

Revealing the name Kane in the 13 Symbol Cipher using two individual techniques, yet arriving at the same destination.

An examination of dates, pi and Richard Gaikowski, using the 13 Moon Calendar as a template.

A further extension of the 13 Moon Calendar theory and why the Little List Letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 26th 1970 was integral to the killers plans.

On November 26th 1960, Beverly Allan (19) and Larry Peyton (19) were teenagers who had driven to a lovers lane retreat in Forest Park, Portland Hills to enjoy themselves, when their lives were cruelly snatched away.

Attacks bearing the hallmarks of the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns on March 22nd 1970.

Linking the symbols on the sixth line of the 340 Cipher to the Exorcist Letter over four years later.

In this article, an interesting find on the Zodiac Killer Site forum has been integrated into the possibility the Zodiac Killer was driven by astrology, religion and in part, by coding and mathematics and take The Wheel of Death to its ancestral roots in The Wheel of Fortune or Rota Fortunae.

A look at Idyllwild, situated in the San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County, California, a scenic backdrop, flanked by the nearby communities of Pine Cove and Fern Valley.